MY PRAYING EAGLES

Every time I have a need for prayer helpers I send an S.O.S. to certain friends whom I call my “Praying Eagles.” Sometimes it’s by e-mail, sometimes by phone, sometimes it is through face to face encounters. Many of them don’t know one another and live scattered across the country; but they know me. I may not even have met some of them personally. But in Christ they love me and I love them.

When they have a need for prayer help, they feel free to call on me too. Sometimes it is another member of our Lord's Body who is sick or suffering or needy in some way—someone whom most of us may not even know. (1 Cor. 12:26) But we beseech our Heavenly Father in the Name of Jesus to show His mercy and love and healing, if that be His will, on behalf of that person or that situation we have been asked to pray about.

We lift each other up, if we are DOWN. Likewise, when one of us is UP and rejoicing in some blessing or grace, we celebrate together with that brother or sister. We rejoice again when a prayer is answered, often “exceedingly, abundantly above what we can ask or even think.” This prayer fellowship extends “across the aisle” of our particular Christian faith persuasions. If we are one in Christ, we are part of one another. The apostle Paul encouraged us to “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law [of love] of Christ.”

Some Christians are reluctant or shy to ask anyone else to pray for their needs; they keep their burdens to themselves. They are very private people and I respect their reticence. Also, their particular Christian faith persuasion might not provide a background or experience for such personal sharing. Cultural differences also hold some folks back. I believe they are missing something particularly precious. I encourage them to avail themselves of the joy and privilege of our Body Life in Christ!

God doesn't get tired of our asking Him for help; He hears every prayer we lift up to Him. So we shouldn’t get weary of praying for each other either. Of course, God hears His precious child when he or she prays alone. And when two or three gather in His Name, Jesus has promised to be in the midst of us. He doesn’t require a multitude of people to pray for a need before He will hear and answer. When more of us join together in prayer, it is not a "class action suit" to try to influence God with our sheer numbers to do what we ask Him. We must always ask only that His will might be done. We should not be presumptive to demand a specific answer. He is God and we are not. Only He sees the big picture.

Our Heavenly Father must surely be pleased, however, with our close and loving "Family relationships" which lead us to pray together in agreement even when we are scattered in different locations when we pray for someone's need. God transcends space and time.

Each of us may cultivate his own circle of “praying eagles.” We don’t need to be formal about it. Among our friends and brothers and sisters in our church fellowship we should soon be able to discern those who genuinely love to pray and have compassionate hearts. We flock together naturally because we are "one in the spirit and one in the Lord."

END